The subject matter described herein relates to surface inspection techniques, and more particularly to a system and method to create a haze standard.
Surface metrology equipment and techniques may be used to characterize discrete surface features (e.g., particles, pits, etc) and surface roughness characteristics (e.g., texture, haze). In this context, the term “haze” refers to a degree of scattering of an optical signal reflected from a surface of an object. Some surface inspection equipment requires periodic calibration for haze measurement. Calibration may be performed using objects, typically disks or wafers, which have surface imperfections that produce a known (i.e., standard) haze measurement. Hence, the term “haze standard” may refer to the standardized haze measurement, or to the object (i.e., the disk or wafer) that includes one or more haze standards on its surface.
Haze standards have been created using chemical etching processes, lithographic processes, and epitaxial growth processes. These processes suffers from deficiencies including, for example, process stability, cost, reproducibility, and production limitations including limitations on the number of haze standards that may be incorporated into a single wafer. Additional techniques for producing haze standards would therefore find utility.